Hi, I have asked a number of questions over the past month or so with regards to planning my three week trip; I have received a LOT of great advise about B&B's, sites/ tours, using my phone, etc; I am now trying to figure out which buses and trains I will be taking and would appreciate advice as to which tickets I should purchase individually and/ or whether a rail pass would work (as well as which rail pass, etc) I am landing in Shannon, Ireland and busing to Galway (spending 5 days), train to Dublin (staying 3 days); RyanAir to Glasgow, train to Inverness (3 days), train to Aviemore (2 days), train to Edinburgh (2 days), train to York, and train to London (5 days) where I would be taking the tube and trains.
Thanks so much again! I love this forum! Terry :))
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
You really need to do your homework on the value of the different passes. Don't trust one of us to do it for you. That said, I suspect you will find that if you are willing to commit to advance tickets (especially in Great Britain) you will come out cheaper with individual tickets. I recently purchased tickets for me and my wife to go from Edinburgh to York (spend 2 nights) and then on to London. The total cost for both of our tickets for both legs was 45.6 GBP. I suspect you will be able to do as well for these trips and your other GB trips. The ROI is separate and a train pass is never going to beat an individual ticket anytime. A bus ride is also pretty cheap in the ROI but you should check if a pass might be worthwhile.
Posted by
OP
Everywhere, USA, USA
40 posts
Ken, I have been researching this (as I also did with the B&B's and other aspects of the trip), it's just a bit confusing so I figured that if someone else has already figured it out (or at least what worked best for them), they might share their experience. Thanks :)
Posted by
New England
317 posts
Hi Terry, I can help with the Scotland part of your trip. I used a rail pass one visit .. excellent for just hopping on, not worrying about exactly when. On another trip, I purchased advance tickets via http://www.scotrail.co.uk/ for good values, but you have to be at the station for the exact trip (miss the train and you'll have to buy another ticket). I used Cap One credit card to buy the tickets (no foreign transaction fee) and then brought it with me to stick in the machine at the station to get out my tickets. Another option with getting advance tickets is to say where you will pick them up. You could buy the 5 tickets (Inverness, up around, and to York, London) you want and pick them all up at Glasgow (which has 2 train stations, fyi).
Posted by
OP
Everywhere, USA, USA
40 posts
Thanks, Betsey. I guess I'm also asking: are all of the train companies in the UK included with the Railpass? Some of the trains are ScotFirst (I think?), EastCoast and Cross Country (again, I think that's what it's called)... thanks! I'm going to go to the booking sites and start comparing.
Posted by
New England
317 posts
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/greatbritain.cfm The BritRail passes don't mention many exclusions (some exclude ferries, but no trains mentioned, just sometimes for the time).
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
If you know when your are going and where, you will almost always be better off buying tickets in advance. If you are a "free spirit," you will probably find a rail pass that is tailored to your needs to be the best buy. Within the ROI, you won't get much value out of a pass for the schedule you have there. One of the BritPasses may be worth considering if you can't fix your travel dates a month or two in advance.
Posted by
OP
Everywhere, USA, USA
40 posts
Thanks again, everyone! I just went through and figured out all of the trains and they total about £100, much less than the 8 day rail pass (and since I'll be doing it over 9 days, I'd end up paying for one trip anyways).